Aaron Lewis Ends Another Concert Early: "Shut the F--k Up or I'm Done"

posted by Andrew Magnotta @AndrewMagnotta -
Mar 13, 2019

Perhaps no rock star in history has demanded silence from live audiences more than Aaron Lewis.

The Staind front man cut short another show on his solo acoustic tour after a tense exchange with some audience members.

Lewis said an early goodnight last Saturday, March 9, at a show in Oklahoma after a crowd refused to pipe down while he performed an intimate version of the Staind song, "Intro."

"Listen, if you don't shut the f--k up you can't even hear the guitar," Lewis said to the audience. "So shut up. I've got three more f---ing minutes — three. Can you please, for once...? Through the whole f---ing evening, you guys have talked all f---ing night. Shut the f--k up or I'm done."

A frustrated Lewis began strumming the first chords of the song again.

"It's so f---ing ironic that this f---ing song is a 'thank you,' and I can't get you to shut the f--k up to hear it," he said, calling it a night, putting his guitar down, knocking a cup on the floor and walking off stage.

You can see video from the incident below.

Lewis has had many of these moments over the years, including several on this latest tour.

As strange as it is that Lewis has such a contentious relationship with his adoring fans, it's also odd that his audiences don't understand by now that he will simply leave if he doesn't get the silence he demands. Any artist is entitled to the attention of their audience, but the singer's prickly demeanor only seems to aggravate these situations.

Plenty of audience members echo Lewis's calls for silence — it seems from the video like a lot of the noise was people yelling "shut up" — but time and time again, Lewis ignores those who are watching him respectfully and laser focuses his attention on the dull murmur he finds so unconscionable.

All things considered, he succeeds in getting the room very quiet but gives up anyway.